


just a young gun (with a quick fuse)

by hartmaddox



Series: walking the wire [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: (a tiny bit of) Underage Drinking, (how many orgasms is too many orgasms?), F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, jealous!Scott
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 02:59:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18306818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hartmaddox/pseuds/hartmaddox
Summary: Scott swears he almost drops his Diet Coke when he finds her surrounded by party-goers— male ones at that— who are enraptured as she beats a dude who looks about twenty-three at bubble hockey. Another guy he doesn’t recognize, sandy brown hair and stubble (and honestly fuck him and his ability grow facial hair) with a smug expression is adjudicating, stood at the side of the table and smirking at Tessa when she continues to thrash her opponent. There’s a warm flush to her cheeks and her fluttering eyelashes would disarm any competitor even if she wasn’t amazing. Scott’s eyes squint, his expression becoming pinched.//Scott's idea to move past his fixation on Tessa doesn't quite go to plan.





	just a young gun (with a quick fuse)

**Author's Note:**

> If you've been waiting for this next installment, I'm sorry that I'm such a slow writer haha. Thank you for all the kindness on the first part of this series, it definitely inspires me and makes me more determined to get things completed. This part takes place a couple of months after 'first things first', and while I would advise you to read that first because you'll be missing some context, you could probably still be okay without it (I'd nudge you to read that though, I think it's better lol). 
> 
> Again, entirely unbeta'd because I'm too nervous and insecure to reach out for help. So any errors - I apologise for.
> 
> Title from Thunder by Imagine Dragons.

He knows she’s here because he had to talk her into coming.

 

She’d grudgingly agreed, an exasperated sigh on her lips at his constant pestering over the whole week leading up to the party. The thing is, and he’d rather be laid out flat in a body check than admit it out loud, he has more fun when Tessa’s around. And he’s just not been able to get her out of his head since _that night_ in the summer, a burning under his skin whenever she looks at him a certain way. When she does that Scott can feel the walls coming up to block her from seeing the yearning bubbling up within him. He tells himself over and over that she only fucked him so she could put on a more convincing performance. That’s clear from her never bringing it up again since. He knows he’s a mess of mixed signals and stupid hormones when he’s around Tessa. That he’s overcompensating for how he _wants_ to take her in his arms with being stand-offish and second-guessing his affection. She’s his job and he has to take that responsibility seriously no matter how much he wants to hold her and kiss her and _fuck_ her.

 

So the party is supposed to be a good way for him to move the hell on, and it’s not technically a distraction if she’s there too. It’s...regaining the balance.

 

But when Tessa’s around and he makes a joke that falls a little flat— she’ll always giggle anyway. If he starts to get himself into trouble— she’ll defuse the situation and make him see sense, reining him in. And, of course, if she’s there he has the motivation not to get too sloppy because he has to know she’s safe and watch out for her— as any good partner would. Anyway, he knows Tessa; and she wouldn’t have said she was coming and then bail without letting him know first. They check in with each other off the ice as much as they do on it.

 

The party is full of skaters and friends of skaters and local college kids. An interesting mix to say the least. Technically, none of them should be here. These kinds of parties are usually reserved for holidays or an end of season release but they have their first senior Grand Prix assignment in two weeks and Marina and Igor are being even more strict than usual. Tessa listens to him when he says they need to blow off steam and have some fun before they’re entirely consumed by the competitive season, even if he knows this isn’t exactly her perfect version of fun. He wonders briefly if she’s holed-up somewhere reading one of her books.

 

Tanith’s hosting the party ( _and really, even though it’s a post-Olympic season, shouldn’t she be preparing for her own Grand Prix?_ ), so they’re invited because they can’t _not_ be, just like everyone at Arctic Edge. He vaguely registers that a lot of the people are older as well. It doesn’t bother Scott, he’s always had the natural ability to mould himself into any social situation, but Tessa… Tessa usually clings to the people she knows, orbiting around them for security until she feels comfortable. They’re used to being among older crowds from Junior banquets where they were often younger than their competitors, but everyone there shared a common goal and knew who everyone else was. He can’t help but be worried about older guys trying to take advantage of her. It’s just that she’s his responsibility. _That’s all_.

 

So when he slides into the kitchen to grab a drink, already one beer in and at his limit when they’re deep in training (he can let loose but he’s not _stupid_ ), it draws his attention when the music cranks up a little higher and the crowd in the lounge get noticeably louder. He’s been on the porch for the last half hour chatting to a very nice redhead who knows Tanith from…somewhere. Okay, so maybe he hasn’t been paying as much attention to what she’s been saying as he has the curve of her lips when she smiles and moonlight bouncing off her skin and the swell of her breasts in her tight dress, but the twinkle in her eye certainly _seems_ nice. He’s texted Tessa a couple of times to check in and has yet to get a response, which is unlike her, so he wants to scope out the rest of the party a bit and make sure she’s good.

 

Scott swears he almost drops his Diet Coke when he finds her surrounded by party-goers— male ones at that— who are enraptured as she beats a dude who looks about twenty-three at bubble hockey. Another guy he doesn’t recognize, sandy brown hair and stubble (and honestly _fuck him_ and his ability grow facial hair) with a smug expression is adjudicating, stood at the side of the table and smirking at Tessa when she continues to thrash her opponent. There’s a warm flush to her cheeks and her fluttering eyelashes would disarm any competitor even if she wasn’t amazing. Scott’s eyes squint, his expression becoming pinched. He completely forgets where he was planning to go after he found Tessa and sits down across the room from the scene, a deep-rooted need to observe how it plays out. His heart hammers against his ribcage in a way that screams a chorus of ‘ _No_ ’ and ‘ _Mine_ ’ that he can’t help but be ashamed of.

 

The girl from outside reappears, taking a seat beside him and begins talking at him— because god knows he’s not really engaging in conversation other than a few cursory nods and ‘ _Hmm_ ’s. Scott can sense her shuffling her chair closer in his periphery but his eyes can scarcely move from the picture in front of him. It feels like every few seconds Tessa and this Abercrombie-looking guy get closer, more flirtatious, more like foreplay. Scott can’t breathe. His lungs feel like they’re burning. The condensation from the can slips down his fingers as he grips tighter. He doesn’t like this at all.

 

Tessa wins the game— because of course she does— she’s _Tessa_. He’s the only one that is ever good competition for her at bubble hockey and that’s because he can read her tells. He knows her moves, he knows her tactics, he even senses when she’s going for unpredictability. And yet he definitely wouldn’t have predicted the scene playing out before him tonight. The first party in a blue moon that Tessa comes to and she’s come to _play_. Scott can’t help but wonder what he missed.

 

The crowd disperses a little from around the table and somebody cranks the music even higher, the thrum of the bass bouncing off the walls in a way that makes Scott’s blood pump to the rhythm. With people dancing he only gets a glimpse of Tessa every few seconds now, and it’s like a flipbook, snapshots of stubble-dude wrapped around her, face in her neck ( _his spot_ ), hands on her hips ( _his to hold_ ), front pressed to her back ( _his job, dammit!_ ). Scott’s whole face feels like it’s on fire and his eyes sting from his unwillingness to blink and miss a single second of the car wreck unfolding before him.

 

The asshole whispers something in her ear to which Tessa responds with a bite of her curved lower lip and a nod before he pats her on the hip possessively, hand coming far too close to her ass as he leaves. Tessa keeps dancing alone, a serenity to her movements as the music flows through her. There’s nothing better than watching her move confidently and freely. Well... _almost nothing_. And doesn’t that just conjure up images and memories that send him to half-mast in seconds.

 

He mumbles: “Sorry, have to talk to a friend,” because even though he knows he’s being a jackass right now, he does still have _some_ manners. His path is precise and determined as he makes his way through the mass of people. Scott is single-minded and can only see her.

 

Tessa’s eyes are shut blissfully as she sways, hips moving alluringly to the rhythm that she somehow turns from pounding into a sweet seduction. He circles her as his eyes trace every inch of her body, watching her ponytail whip backwards as she raises her chin in a vision of almost orgasmic ecstasy. Scott’s mouth goes dry as he approaches from behind, curling an arm around her abdomen and pulling her back into his body. She hums deep in her chest causing his pants to tighten.

 

“Having fun, are we?” he murmurs huskily into her ear and her body tenses for a moment before relaxing, her hand sweeping across his arm before intertwining their fingers.

 

“Hi, haven’t seen you tonight,” she greets, turning in his arms. Scott can feel the level of nervousness taking over her like she’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar and is trying to play it off.

 

He leans forward, pressing first their foreheads together and then their noses. “I don’t think you looked very hard.” His hand slides down to the dip in her back just above her ass, somewhere that would still be considered decent, and tugs her towards him. _Hard,_ indeed.

 

Tessa whimpers and he knows she can feel him through his dark jeans and her tight little black dress. Her hands slide up from his biceps to wind around his neck, fingers playing with the short hair she finds there. Each breath that exits her mouth sounds a little more ragged, a little less controlled. She’s like a current of energy just waiting to be released.

 

“So, there was a guy…” he begins, punctuating the start of the topic with a soft kiss to her chest. There’s a slight sheen across her skin that glistens in the light and reminds him of a twinkling star in the night sky. One he can’t possibly tear his gaze away from. One whose beauty can’t possibly be captured or preserved in a photo so he has to admire while offered the chance.

 

“Yes, there was a guy,” she parrots, arms tightening around him as if to say ‘ _W_ _hen I’m with you who cares about anyone else?_ ’ and it makes his heart beat faster. One signal from her and he’s just _gone_. He licks a stripe up her neck in retaliation.

 

Moving his lips to her ear, he murmurs, “You know he’s just using you, right? No good guy that age is chasing after seventeen-year-olds.” He tries to sound less jealous and more concerned, but he’s not sure he really succeeds.

 

“It is what it is.” She shrugs non-committedly as if this isn’t important or new information. And he can’t help but be worried that she doesn’t seem to care. The hair on the back of his neck stands up until she runs her fingers across the area again.

 

Scott frowns. “He’ll drop you as soon as you put out, you get that right?”

 

Tessa’s nails scratch against his shoulder blade as a warning that he’s pushing too hard, getting too irritable, approaching the line between cautionary and insulting. “Funny, because I already did, and he doesn’t seem deterred.”

 

Scott’s heart drops all the way to his stomach, a pit opening up and everything sinking and pulling him apart like a black hole. “You slept with him?”

 

He sees her eyebrow raise slightly. “Yeah, I did.” She nuzzles closer, rubbing her face along his neck and jaw like a needy cat. It’s so soft in contrast to the way his blood is boiling, rage and envy and fear taking precedence over anything else. It’s not like he owns her, and it’s not like they promised each other anything. There was a hint of ‘ _W_ _e can do this again if we want to_ ’ but they hadn’t broached the topic after that night. That wonderful, sexy, essentially life-changing night where she let him be her first and no one has measured up since.

 

Tessa sighs and turns around in his arms again, pushing her ass back into him subtly in the process. He lays a kiss on the back of her neck and follows it up with a journey towards her ear. Her skin is so soft and she smells so delicious that he can’t resist scraping his teeth against her skin before soothing it with his tongue. Tessa sinks back into him with a gasp of pained pleasure.

 

“Seriously? Him?” He just can’t let it go.

 

Tessa kicks her heel back into his foot, signalling her growing annoyance with his inability to stop. “He’s hot.”

 

“He looks like a douchebag. You know, the kind who will spot the book on your nightstand and make some smartass vague comment to pretend like he knows it better than you do. Who’ll insist on ordering coffee for you but then get it wrong because it’s too complex and he doesn’t care to pay enough attention. Who’ll come to watch you train with me and then want to fuck you in the storage closet because he’s jealous.”

 

Tessa laughs deep and low and he feels a blush creep up his neck because he knows she recognizes that last one from his own experiences. It happened the previous season and the girl, Karly, kept hanging around trying to get his attention during practice. He still remembers Tessa’s twinkling, amused eyes and barely concealed smirk when Marina snapped at the girl so harshly he never saw her again. “Well, I’m not marrying the guy.” There’s a flash of Tessa walking down an aisle in a white dress in his mind, handprints that he thinks are only visible to him all over the lace...or is it silk?

 

She sways her hips sensually to a crest in the music and he grabs her waist, not her hips, having learned last time how much that gets her in the mood. _Take that, you dick._ He pulls her closer, wedging his leg between her thighs so she’s almost grinding against him. “How was it?”

 

“Hmm?” Tessa moves her arm back behind Scott’s head, forcing him to curl into her more and he plants another chaste kiss on the soft, enticing skin of her jaw.

 

A subtle thrust against her ass to punctuate his point. “The sex. How was it?” And ‘ _W_ _as he as good as me?_ ’ are the unspoken words ringing in the air, his ego hanging in the balance.

 

“Eh.”

 

Scott slides one of the straps of her dress down slightly, unable to resist scraping his teeth against the uncovered flesh. She whimpers again and he snaps her bra strap against her skin a little. Tessa inhales sharply. “Eh?”

 

Tessa sinks into his leg, clearly enjoying the pressure he’s providing, and god he wants nothing more than to be able to bury his hand under the skirt of her dress and feel how wet she’s getting. “I believe the words ‘It’s okay, sometimes it can be hard for girls to get there the first time’ were uttered.”

 

Scott’s eyes widen. “Oh, no.”

 

“Oh, _yes_.”

 

A laugh bubbles out of his mouth before he can stop it. “Which were not words he was dragging out of you.”

 

“Not exactly, no.” He can’t see her face, but he can hear the dissatisfaction in her voice. While it selfishly makes him happy to know he’s still the best she’s had, as her friend it makes him angry that someone took advantage of her and used her as some kind of plaything to get their rocks off with no regard for her enjoyment. It makes him even angrier that she was willing to go back for more.

 

Scott runs his palm across her abdomen, intimate and comforting. “Did you correct him?”

 

Tessa huffs, her back pressed to his front so completely he can feel every breath that enters and exits her body. “That I wasn’t a virgin and that I actually came three times with my first and he needs to step up his game?” _Three?_ Her hand slides down to his ear, tugging gently on the lobe. His eyes flutter closed for a moment, any contemplation of her words escaping him. “No, funnily enough, I left those details out.” Tessa turns her head, her eyes locking with his as he refocuses, and time seems to slow for a moment, a wealth of meaning he wouldn’t even begin to know how to unpack passing between them.

 

“So why are you still entertaining him if he sucks?” He punctuates that word by pressing down against her abs and pushing her back into him, shifting his body so that his hard-on rubs against her backside. Tessa’s eyes flutter closed and then open again in a way that takes his breath away. There are flecks of glitter that have fallen from her eyelids to dust across the tops of her cheeks like sparkly freckles. Her lipgloss shimmers as she lifts her chin and he wants nothing more than to close the gap and rediscover how she tastes. Scott lets his hand sink down to nestle in the juncture between her hip and thigh, the closest he can get while still maintaining decency. He wants so badly to trace the line of her underwear, slide his fingers under the material and feel the warmth beneath.

 

Tessa’s hand sinks into his hair and their hips automatically sway and sync in a way that’s always puzzled him. “I don’t know.” Her head falls forward, eye contact broken. “The attention is nice, I guess. A party full of girls and he only has eyes for me.” He doesn’t think it was supposed to be a dig, just a comment on what she wants, but he can’t even remember the prior redhead’s face anymore.

 

“I’ve been watching you for half an hour,” he whispers before dropping his tone even lower, “I’ve been watching you _forever_.” Scott can feel her shudder in his arms.

 

Tessa’s nails scratch at him slightly. “He’ll be back soon.”

 

“Right,” he agrees. With anyone else that would’ve been a brush-off, with Tessa he knows it’s a warning. An _invitation,_ even. “Can I take you home?”

 

“I bet you say that to all the girls.” She turns in his arms, eyes sparkling in amusement and a laugh on her lips. Scott cackles, brushing his hand slowly down her arm until he’s squeezing her wrist, her palm, and then wrapping around her soft, scarred fingers before dragging her away to make their exit. She pauses briefly to grab her bag from under the bubble hockey table and then hurries her footsteps to keep up with him, her giggles filling the air despite the background noise.

 

They only get as far as the tree in the backyard. Scott pushes Tessa against the bark harder than he intends to in his haste, taking advantage of her gasp to close his mouth over hers and slip his tongue along the inside of her supple bottom lip. He wonders briefly if he should break away and apologize for all but attacking her but Tessa accepts him with a moan, her nails digging into the fabric of his shirt so hard he can feel the crescent shapes forming against his skin as she pulls him into her. As always, they find their rhythm seamlessly. His hunger intensifies. One of her legs instinctively lifts and his palm catches it, dragging her lower body closer as they writhe against each other. She tastes like something sweet and sharp and it’s so intoxicating he can’t breathe, breaking away and panting into her mouth. The air between them mists as their hot breaths mingle in the cold Michigan evening.

 

“Drunk?” He has to ask.

 

“Not at all,” she answers huskily, licking along her bottom lip like she can’t get enough of the taste of him. His head feels cloudy at the sight of her. “I had one glass of that punch when I arrived. A _small_ one,” that’s punctuated by the tiniest lift of an eyebrow, naughty and teasing and Scott snickers, his head dropping to her collarbone. _Poor Abercrombie._

 

His kiss lands on the corner of her lips. “Good, that’s…” Tessa's lips move to his jaw, giving it a small lick that shouldn’t be as seductive as it is and then biting kisses into the skin of his neck that send a sharp shock of arousal straight down to his dick. He almost forgets who he is and, more importantly, where he is. “...good. We should go.”

 

Tessa pulls back, blinking hazily as him. When he lifts his eyebrows and glances around them quickly her eyes widen in realization. “No one can see us,” she urges worriedly as if that thought hadn’t even occurred to her until now. There’s a certain sense of pride flaring up within him that he managed to completely derail Tessa Virtue from her logical thought process.

 

“Come on.” Scott pushes her in front of him and walks them through the back gate.

 

They’re only a minute into the drive before he’s very aware of Tessa fidgeting against the faux leather of the passenger seat. And whatever she’s doing is starting to get distracting. “Tess.”

 

“Sorry, sorry.” She crosses her legs to try and dissuade her squirming and he knows without looking that the hem of her dress has hitched up her thighs with the movement. “Just...how long is the drive?”

 

His fingers clench around the steering wheel. “To mine? Fifteen. Yours— a little less.”

 

“Make it mine then, please,” she requests, a breathy quality to her voice that immediately sends him back to when she graced his bed. Scott feels like he could burst hearing how eager she is to fuck him. It’s tempting to just find a secluded road somewhere and drag her onto his lap— windows fogging up and hands slipping for purchase against the condensation. He barely holds in his groan at that image taking root, adding it to the flourishing garden of fantasies he has involving the girl beside him.

 

Her phone buzzes in her clutch and she slides it out. Scott can tell she’s grateful for the temporary distraction. A gentle laugh bubbles up in the back of her throat as she reads the message.

 

“What’s funny?” he asks, taking the corner a little faster than he probably should and he reaches out a hand to steady her as if he’s a soccer mom. Tessa gasps, and when he glances over he notices his hand is cupping her breast. Before he can talk himself out of it he slides it inside her dress, giving her a gentle squeeze and plucking briefly at her hard nipple through the fabric of her thin bra. Tessa lets out an adorable, if somewhat strained, squeak.

 

“He wants to know where I am. Would ‘On my way to fuck my best friend’ be too forward?”

 

Scott’s bites down on his lip to hold back his groan. His hand slips out of her dress to sweep along her torso, sweat beading across his forehead as he traces the lines of her abs, fingers her piercing, and then delves into the gap between her thighs, pushing them apart again. Tessa whines and opens her legs wider. He traces circles on her inner thigh, barely able to resist the heat radiating from her core that tries to draw him in.

 

“What do you want to tell him?” Scott asks, voice husky even to his own ears.

 

Her breath hitches. “That I’m so turned on the second you touch me I might explode. That I want to sink down on you and ride you until my thighs burn. That I want you to finish all over my chest and lips.”

 

Her natural ability at talking dirty after the shyness she had about it in the first place is so startling and hot that Scott struggles not to let his vision blackout and send them careening off into a ditch. “Jesus Christ, T.”

 

“Sent.”

 

His foot presses down on the accelerator hard before he rights himself. He’s not sure ‘So horny I could die’ would be a good excuse to a cop stopping him for speeding. “Are you serious?”

 

“No, I told him I didn’t feel well and went home. Obviously.”

 

Scott cackles. “Oh, she’s a funny one.”

 

He can hear her pleased smile when she replies, “Sometimes.”

 

The second they slide through Tessa’s door, he pushes her so her front is flush against the wall, her clutch falling to the ground with a clatter. Scott inhales the scent from her neck, vanilla mixed with something that’s uniquely her, as he runs his hands slowly down her arms. He grips each wrist firmly, but not hard enough to hurt, and places them above her head. It feels like a whole new choreographed dance.

 

“Scott,” she moans, arching her back and pushing her ass back against him as she writhes. He swears the sound he makes is something akin to a growl. He’s not sure why they’re being so much rougher with one another tonight, he thinks he may have started it, spurred on by a dark possessiveness and a desire to prove to her how much he wants her. But she’s given as much as he’s taken, desperation within her that is nothing short of mesmerizing and makes him want to fulfill her every need.

 

He keeps one hand holding her arms to the wall while the other starts on a journey down her body. Scott sweeps the red ponytail off her shoulder, planting hot wet kisses against her skin. He tugs on her hair ever so slightly and the gasp she lets out is like the start of a symphony. He notes that for later— another thing to add to his growing knowledge of her body this way. Scott’s hand continues running down her back, giving her waist a quick squeeze like he knows she likes, the strength of his fingers embedded firmly into her body with only one layer of fabric separating him from her soft skin. Scott arrives at the hem of Tessa’s tight little black dress and pushes it up over the curve of her ass. He presses his forehead into the dip between her shoulder blades and groans pathetically, almost on the verge of coming in his pants at the image laid out before him.

 

“Tutu, where’s your underwear?” He traces one hand along her ass cheek slowly and then grabs a whole handful, squeezing at the muscle until Tessa whines in the back of her throat.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teases. Unable to use her arms, she twines her leg around his thigh and pulls him in so she can rub her ass against his hard cock. She really has become far too good at the tango.

 

“You’ll be the death of me.”

 

“I will if you don’t get to it.”

 

“Mm, bossy,” Scott murmurs. He pushes his chest against her back— holding her in place— before letting go of her arms. Grabbing a condom from his pocket and then undoing his pants, he leaves them pooled haphazardly around his lower thighs, desperate to get inside her as fast as he can. He’s ready in record time.

 

Scott nudges his fingers into the space between her cheeks and feels more than sees Tessa shake her head. “Don’t need it. Just wanna feel you.”

 

Scott inhales sharply, heat spreading across his chest and face. He can feel a bead of sweat forming on his spine and dripping down slowly before being soaked up by the material of his shirt. “You sure?”

 

Her hips move in anticipation and Scott is enraptured by the ripple of her muscles, so much power and strength and grace and she lets herself be his.

 

“ _Please_.”

 

And he doesn’t need any more than that, gripping her hip and tilting her for the best angle as he lines up with her entrance. He slides in slowly, carefully, feeling the hot grip of her through the latex. Tessa’s palm bangs against the wall and she gasps out what he thinks is the word ‘ _Yes_ ’ but his ears are ringing, blood pumping loudly through his head until he can memorize the quickened rhythm of his heartbeat. He reaches a hand out on top of hers, their fingers automatically intertwining with one another as his hips nestle against her ass, his dick as far as it can go.

 

He stays still waiting for Tessa to adjust but she’s already twitching, her body moving against him deliciously as her breath gets quicker.

 

“Fuck, T,” he whispers, trying to hold onto the last shred of his sanity. She’s unbelievable. “You want me to move?”

 

“Uh-huh,” she urges breathily, her nails scratching against the wall in urgency. Scott watches the paint chip. He’ll see that mark whenever he comes over, knowing the frenzied circumstances behind how it got there. Other people will see it too, thinking it’s as harmless as some moved furniture or a scratch from a particularly sharp accessory, not knowing they’re witnessing the evidence of the time he fucked his best friend against the wall of her hallway.

 

He slides almost all the way out, just the head keeping her open around him before thrusting back into her quickly. Tessa keens, head thrown back in pleasure so violently that Scott almost has to swerve so he doesn’t end up with a broken nose two weeks before competition. He does it again, and then again, but on the fourth thrust Tessa squeaks out his name before her whole body tenses and shudders and she’s pushing back on his cock while she clenches around him so beautifully he feels a second away from coming himself.

 

“Oh my god, Tess.” He can hear the strained wonder in his own raspy voice.

 

She giggles, almost deliriously, aftershocks still pulsing through her body. Suddenly, Tessa starts to sink, catching them off guard as her knees go weak, but Scott winds an arm around her abdomen to keep her from falling (and as close to him as possible). He lowers them both to the floor slowly trying to keep them together but he slips out right at the end.

 

Tessa makes a tiny huff of annoyance. She turns around and straddles him, quickly taking hold of his cock, giving it one smooth stroke and then sinking down on top of him. Just like she said she wanted. Scott’s hands fly to her hips to steady her but she doesn’t need a guide, her body moves in the most exquisite ways and Scott can’t catch his breath as she rides him, bouncing up and down at an incredible pace only achievable by someone as athletic as his dance partner. He slides the straps of her dress down her shoulders, watching it fall around her waist. She reaches back with a self-satisfied smile, unhooking her bra and casting it aside, exposing her breasts to the chilled air. He takes a hardened nipple between his fingers and squeezes, giving the tiniest twist at the end and watches Tessa’s eyes roll back in her head as her rhythm falters.

 

“ _Scott_.”

 

He’s heard a few women moan his name in the throes of passion, but none of them have ever sounded as good as her. He tips her forward so she’s resting against his body more, allowing for his knees to bend and feet to find some purchase on her wooden floor. He thrusts up into her hard and fast and knows they’re both tumbling towards their orgasms. Tessa pushes the hem of his t-shirt up, raking her nails across his stomach and then his side and then his back. The sharp pleasure hits him like a tidal wave, dragging him under the surface of her spell.

 

With a groan, he grabs her hip with one hand and the back of her head with the other, flipping them over. It’s thanks to his forethought that she doesn’t bang her head against the floor. Tessa’s moans become more like screams, high and melodic like morning birdsong except she’s got his name on her lips instead. It sends a wave of heat from his heart all the way down his spine, every inch of him becoming hers. Her hands clench hard at his biceps and he bites down on her neck one last time because she’s fluttering around his cock again. It pushes him over the edge and he thinks he might pass out for a second because the next thing he knows they’re a sweaty tangled heap on the floor of the entrance-way of her apartment with most of their clothes still on.

 

“Wow,” she says, stroking his hair.

 

“You can say that again.” He laughs.

 

“But seriously though… _Wow_.” Scott places a kiss against the left side of her chest, their bodies still moving erratically as they take in ragged breaths. “Is it supposed to always be that good? Because that was really… wow.”

 

“Definitely not always that good.” The unspoken ‘ _I think it’s just us_ ’ hanging in the air between them. He gives her a soft chaste kiss on the lips, realizing it’s the first time they’ve done so since they were making out against the tree at the party, and kisses her again, longer, sweeter. She responds back in kind, and he can feel the edges of a contented smile on her lips. It’s contagious, and he grins at her as they pull apart. She tastes like broken resolves and trouble. Delicious, terrifying trouble.

 

The way her eyes sparkle makes his heart skip a beat. He can’t imagine a day where she can’t get under his skin, where he’s no longer utterly taken apart by the way she looks at him, where he wouldn’t do anything to make her as happy as she seems right now.

 

“We didn’t even get our clothes off.” She giggles, flushed and giddy and he has so much pride that it can only end in a catastrophic fall.

 

“Beg to differ. I’m still wondering where your panties went.”

 

“Keep wondering,” she replies, tapping him on the nose. She pushes herself up on shaky legs, holding onto his shoulder and then the wall for what seems like dear life and he can’t stop grinning at what he’s done to her. “Coming?”

 

He moves to follow her before realizing his pants are still tangled around his knees causing him to nearly faceplant into the floor, it’s only thanks to his quick reflexes that his palms catch him before he disfigures himself. Tessa’s laugh is deep and full like she only does when it’s completely uncontrollable and free. “Pants on or off?” he asks cheekily.

 

She leans against the doorframe to her bedroom, hand holding her dress to her body half-heartedly, one of her breasts still very much on display and the nipple of the other peaked below the fabric. She cocks an eyebrow at him. “What do you think?”

 

Scott smiles softly and shucks off his t-shirt, shoes and pants. He has the decency to pull up his boxers though, striding down the hall towards her with confidence as if he didn’t almost maim himself a few seconds prior. Reaching out a hand to push her against the doorframe, Tessa lifts her chin to stare into his eyes, a temptress if ever there was one. Scott’s not sure how long they stare at one another, his thumb tracing circles into her stomach, but it seems to last for an eternity. So often he’s just one-and-done, but with Tessa...god, she just makes him insatiable. He bites down on his bottom lip and her mouth curves up into a delicate smile that he doesn’t see too often (and yet more than most, because she usually keeps it to herself, it’s only because he observes her so closely that he’s familiar with it at all). Her eyes positively sparkle in the dark. He sees goosebumps rising on her shoulders from her state of undress but she doesn’t allow herself to shiver, maybe she’s so focused she doesn’t sense the cold.

 

He brings his other hand up to hold her jaw possessively. Tessa— in turn, just like a good partner does— lifts up onto her toes to meet him and when their lips touch it’s sweet and hot and fierce all at once. Scott sucks on her top lip. Tessa moans. She grabs a fistful of his hair. He groans. Scott slides his hand down between her legs to cup her. Tessa whines. She licks into his mouth before biting his bottom lip. Scott growls.

 

With a gasp, Tessa pushes at his chest until they separate, her breathing shallow and loud just like his is too. She reaches down to the hand he still has pressed against her and intertwines their fingers, dragging him into her bedroom and closing the door with a solid thud. She moves both hands to his chest and starts pushing him backwards until his knees hit the edge of her bed and he goes down, bouncing on top of her mattress. “You’re planning something,” he says, watching the determination in her expression and posture

 

She smirks and that alone makes his dick twinge with interest, his arousal coming back full-force. She’s a marvel that Tessa Virtue. “Do you remember our phone call?”

 

He raises an eyebrow. “There are a lot of phone calls, T.” But yes, he remembers the phone call she means. The one where he told her things that only ever slipped out from their locked box in his mind when he lost control with his hand wrapped around his cock.

 

She knows though. Of course she knows. “Do you remember telling me what you wanted?” Tessa lets her dress fall back to her waist again, the gentle curve of her breasts and hard nipples looking sculpturesque in the moonlight, before she shimmies her hips and pushes her dress to pool around her feet on the floor. Scott swallows hard.

 

“Why don’t you remind me?”

 

Tessa sinks her knees into the bed, crawling up to him and running her hands along from his knees and up his thighs as she goes. “Something about...my lips wrapped around you, I think it was.” She licks her lips before embedding her teeth into the lower one and really if it weren’t so dark she’d be able to see the effect she’s having on him so clearly. His blood is rushing south at such an alarming rate that he genuinely feels faint.

 

Scott brings a hand up to her face, running his thumb along the apple of her cheek. “You want to?” He knows better than to doubt her choices at this point. She decides what she wants and what they do and he’ll take anything she has to offer him without fail.

 

She nods happily, the smile moving through his hand and all the way up to her eyes. It makes Scott’s heart clench. Tessa reaches up to the waistband of his boxers, tugging them down slowly but is apparently wholly unsurprised when his cock springs free, well on its way to rock hard.

 

“Hi again,” she greets, staring directly at it. Scott groans out an embarrassed laugh and covers his face with his hands. She’s utterly ridiculous and he loves her _so_ much. She giggles in response, resting her head on his thigh. He’s still not looking when her hand reaches out to wrap around him, the surprise sending an abrupt shockwave through his body that makes him groan in a very different way.

 

She starts slow, touch too light and teasing. Scott brings a hand down, holding it out to her as an offering until she uses her free hand to slide them together, fingers interlocking. It solidifies their connection, makes it more tangible and less cold. “Tighter,” he directs.

 

Tessa nods, her grip becoming firmer around him. It pulls a soft grunt from his throat, pleasure that much brighter. Her hands are small but he knows how strong she is, how good she’s going to be at this, and based on the way she kisses him until there’s no breath left in his lungs? He’s gonna struggle not to explode as soon as her mouth touches him.

 

Which is exactly what she does, tongue tracing the underside of his cock before her lips enclose prettily around the head. He has to force himself not to gasp and throw his head back, hand tightening in hers as he watches her. Her emerald eyes stare back at him, sultry and glittering, while her lips curve up at the edges in satisfaction. She’s a masterpiece and he’ll be forever at her mercy.

 

She sinks a little deeper, swirling her tongue around him. If he focuses hard enough, Scott thinks he can make out her creating a heart shape with the tip of her tongue and his gut swoops hotly. He can’t feel his toes.

 

And then he has a thought that sends a chill up his spine. What if she did this with _him_?

 

“T...” he whispers, untwining their hands but still pressing them palm to palm, his fingers nudging down over the tips of hers in their obvious size difference. “Can you tell me something?”

 

The slurping sound as she pulls off is like cracking glass, he’s still holding together but the sharp edges of arousal ricochet across him in a way where he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be the same or be able to put himself back together. She starts pumping him with her hand again, the slide easier with the added saliva, and she presses a chaste kiss to the head of his cock before looking up at him expectantly.

 

“Is this…” Scott feels the frown on his brow. “Have you done this before?” _With him. Did you suck his cock before you sucked mine? Did you bring him to his knees? Did you ruin him for other women?_

 

She brings her lips back to his dick, right against the slit, and hums a ‘Nuh-uh’ sound. It reverberates through him and his hand flies down to touch her hair, already mussed from the nights activities so far. He takes hold of the loose tie barely holding her ponytail and slowly slides it out, careful not to pull the strands too hard. Red locks fall to frame her face and she looks so goddamn beautiful, like the most enchanting muse for an artist. They would’ve been obsessed with her, dozens if not hundreds of paintings that showcased every feature and expression. She blinks up at him so full of desire that he wants to paint her face with his cum, the image burned into his brain forever of what she'd look like completely owned by him. His very own work of art.

 

Tessa closes her eyes, her body shifting slightly and then he realizes her palm isn’t connected to his anymore, it’s slid between her legs. “Fuck, T. Really?” he murmurs, seeing her nod gently as she offers him her mouth again, slowly edging down to take as much of him as she can. Her hand twists around the base of his cock in a similar fashion to the way she’s probably circling a finger around her clit and Scott whines, his head falling back against a pillow that smells entirely like her. His hand buries itself in her hair and it takes everything in him not to push her down against him further or thrust up into the hot wet cavern of her mouth. But his fingertips massage against her scalp and she moans gutturally, her mouth full of his cock and pushes herself further still for a moment, throat fluttering around him before she pulls back.

 

“Fuck fuck fuck,” he pants, forcing his head up to look at her and she’s staring back at him, a few tears caught in her lashes. “Don’t...don’t push yourself. It’s okay.”

 

There’s a fire in her eyes though, and despite her knowing she can’t take him as far as she wants to tonight, Tessa unwraps her hand and pushes it down to hold his balls, determined to unravel him in other ways.

 

“Oh, shit.” Scott’s mouth falls open, his shoulders and abdomen tensing at the overpowering sensation. “Tess…” She squeezes a little and his mind goes utterly blank. “I’m gonna…” He pants, hand sliding from her hair down to her bottom lip, tracing it as his cock slides in and out. “If you don’t wanna…”

 

Tessa moves her hand back up to the base of his dick, pulling him out of her mouth with a pop. Her hand moves up and down him firm but fast and Scott pushes a hand into the mattress, a desperate need to watch himself come on her chest. It’s not her face, but it’s still him all over her. And that’s the most powerful if not shamefully possessive thought he can’t help but revel in. She milks him through it, and his eyes drift up from her chest to her face, her own ecstasy apparent as she reaches her own climax with her hand against her core.

 

“Fuck,” he whispers for surely the thousandth time as he collapses back against the bed, his whole body like a livewire. “Come here, baby.” She crawls up and settles over him, and he uses the last of his strength to pull her down to his lips, kissing her languidly. “You take my breath away,” he murmurs as they part.

 

When the fog has finally cleared enough for him to see her— really see her— Tessa’s expression is wryly perturbed.

 

“What?”

 

“‘Baby’?” she asks judgmentally, running a finger through his cum and experimentally tasting it. She looks thoughtful, tilting her head side-to-side before nodding to herself.

 

His mind has trouble following the conversation at the same time as her actions and he blinks in confusion. “Huh?”

 

“You called me ‘baby’.” Tessa reaches over, grabbing a tissue and cleaning up her chest methodically, a gentle frown between her eyebrows. “Not sure about that.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It makes me feel…” Tessa grimaces and shrugs. _It makes her feel like everyone else_ , he realizes. It’s impersonal— like he doesn’t care to remember her name. Something about that hurts below the surface of his skin, like a splinter embedded and burning with every movement. No matter what he calls her, she’s always important. She's vital to his survival.

 

Scott smiles gently. “Okay, kiddo.” She looks at him with exasperated amusement over him using that nickname now of all times. He laughs, dragging her down to lie on top of him and kisses her cheek before nosing along her skin and meeting her lips with his own. The kiss is rich, full, passionate but tender in a way they’ve naturally become accustomed to.

 

When they break she rests her forehead against his. “You’re ridiculous.” She’s happier now, the bright warm glow of their evening sweeping over her skin. He’d love to just...stay in this moment, in this bed, with her always. Scott closes his eyes and relaxes into her sanctuary for as long as she’ll let him.

 

Tessa slides her hand through his short hair, rubbing at his scalp before making a path to his ear. She tugs on the lobe just like she did at the party and it’s as if it triggers what he was thinking about the last time to come flooding back. “Earlier when we were at the party, you said three times. Why am I only remembering two?”

 

He listens to the sound of her breathing for a moment, her finger tracing from his ear, down his jaw and across his lip. Scott puckers his lips in a quick faux kiss. “Did you forget how you accosted me before I left?” Her tone is amused and his eyes fly open, blinking over at her.

 

“Oh.” Memories come rushing back as blood comes to the surface of his cheeks. He hadn’t forgotten exactly. But he didn’t really count it as part of her first time.

 

_He’d leapt up from the couch, still only dressed in the sweatpants he’d put on after waking up from his post-sex nap to find Tessa absent. There she’d been in his jersey watching The Notebook with a tub of ice cream. It had been the most comforting picture, his best friend relaxed and wrapped up in his clothes, not afraid to indulge in what she wanted. All too soon the movie had ended and Tessa had sighed sadly, giving him a kiss on the cheek before she went back to his room to get dressed._

 

_Tessa had smiled at his nervousness, moved into his space and wrapped her arms around his neck, her whole body pressed against him. His pounding heart had begun to slow slightly but certainly was nowhere near its resting point. He’d squeezed her tightly, not willing to let go until she wanted him to. He didn’t know why he was being so needy, she’d been the one who’d lost her virginity but it felt like he was the one who’d given away a part of himself._

 

_She’d finally pulled back, head ducking with a shy, content smile and trailed her hand from his shoulder, all the way down to his wrist before slotting their hands together innocently and tugging him over towards his front door. He hadn’t known what to say._

 

_Tessa turned towards him, her sparkling eyes flicking over his face before she reached up a hand to his cheek. Her thumb brushed away some wetness from beneath his eye that he hadn’t even known was there. “Softy,” she’d whispered and Scott had felt his throat close up._

 

He’d blamed the tears on _The Notebook_ and he’s sure she had too. Although he doesn’t know if they really were or not.

 

_Scott had brought his hand to the back of her neck and dragged her into him, his mouth needing hers more than anything else at that moment. Tessa always ran colder than he did, but her mouth was warm and inviting and he just wasn’t ready to lose that part after only just discovering it. She’d moaned softly into the kiss and Scott’s mind had gone blank, running on autopilot as he supposedly pushed her against the door. The vague memory of the thud echoes in his mind even if he doesn’t remember the action. Next thing he’d known his lips were on her neck, tongue lathing at her skin as she whined high and prettily, gasping for breath while his fingers were shoved down the front of her jeans and inside her underwear, rubbing circles around her clit._

 

Goosebumps emerge on his skin in the present as he recalls the memory of her pleasured cry muffled in his collarbone, hot breath against his chest as she came again. Tessa had given him one more intense but tender kiss, eyes flashing before she’d exited his apartment. He’d stayed bent forward, arms taught against the wood of the door for god knows how long, his mind a swirling mess before he’d trudged back to bed in a stupor, the smell of her surrounding him and fuelling his dreams.

 

Scott huffs a sarcastic laugh. “I did do that, didn’t I?”

 

He finds that she’s wrapped one of his hands in hers and has brought it to her chest while he’d been recalling the end to their last evening together. She bends her head and lifts his hand simultaneously so she can kiss his palm. “No complaints on my end. It was—”, Scott takes control and brings his hand to her jaw feeling the blush heat her own skin, “—quite the climax to the evening.”

 

He smiles, proud but vulnerable. “Yeah?”

 

Tessa nods. “I was buzzing all the way home. I had to clench my legs together just to get by but every time I did I could just feel…” Her breath hitches.

 

“Mm?”

 

“How it felt when you were there. I already missed it.” Tessa’s eyes flick up to his, sincere and courageous. “Missed you.”

 

His heart feels like it grows three sizes, his blood pumping around his body so strongly it seems like there’s too much of it, that she needs to take responsibility for the increased life force flowing through him. Scott pushes himself closer to her, mouth capturing hers in a quick, heated kiss. “Missed you too.” Tessa smiles back blissfully.

 

Scott wraps his arm around her body, tugging her into his space until every breath they take is intermingled. Tenderly he traces his fingers up and down her spine but he’s too distracted to count the vertebrae.

 

“Can I ask you something?” The calm still waters in his mind begin to ripple. He sees himself rowing a boat across a body of water with Tessa as his passenger, a slight darkness creeping in and blocking some of the light.

 

Still, he answers: “Anything.”

 

Tessa’s fingers come to press against his waist, rubbing back-and-forth softly in a way that he’s not sure if it’s supposed to comfort him or her. “A while back I was at the rink and I heard these girls talking about you.”

 

His eyebrow twitches, eyes getting slightly wide. “Oh, man, this can’t be good.” He turns onto his back but Tessa’s hand doesn’t leave, just traces the muscles of his stomach instead, and now he knows the touch is definitely meant for his benefit.

 

“They were complimentary, don’t sweat it.” The smile in her voice only eases the tension in his body a little. “But they implied…”

 

He looks down at her as she nudges closer, resting her head on his shoulder. “What?”

 

“That you...I don’t know really...that you do something out of the ordinary maybe? That you have a particular _thing_ that you do?”

 

Relief courses through him as realization arrives. He curls his lips between his teeth and nods thoughtfully. “Did they now?”

 

Tessa shrugs, her finger now tracing patterns on his chest absent-mindedly. “I was just curious. I don’t think...anything we’ve done really stands out as unusual.”

 

“Okay, truth time,” he begins, turning back to face her and folding his arm behind his head to prop himself up. “So, when I was starting out, I’d get a little...I guess...carried away?” Scott winces. “My stamina wasn’t up to much at that point, eh? And I’d finish too soon, way before the girl would get there.”

 

Tessa nods understandingly. “Mmhm.”

 

“So, I guess...there was a time early on where that happened and she looked so fucking disappointed,” he recollects, and insecurity flares up in his gut when he remembers the girl’s unsatisfied frown. “I felt like shit. My first instinct was to drag her up until she was straddling my face and then just...until she came.”

 

“R-right.”

 

He shrugs, wrapping a chunk of Tessa’s hair around his finger distractedly and then letting the loosely formed curl bounce and then straighten. “It kind of just became something I do. I didn’t know girls were talking about it though.”

 

“Girls talk about everything,” she answers bluntly. “Do you enjoy it?”

 

A smirk breaks out across his face. “Oh, yeah. The weight of a girl on top of me, pushing me down into the bed, my tongue sliding in so easily because she’s already fucked open, the noises she makes as she rides me. It’s good.” He sighs. “Really good.”

 

Scott hears her audibly gulp. “No wonder you get glowing reviews.”

 

He laughs, heat crawling up his skin. “Guys don’t normally like that as much, I guess.”

 

“Ah, I’d say not, no.”

 

“I like knowing I caused an orgasm.” Scott winks at her jokingly and over-the-top. “It does wonders for my ego.”

 

“That’s not really why though, is it?” And there’s something behind her eyes, he knows she knows. He doesn’t like disappointing anyone. He can only hum quietly, not exactly confirming but definitely not denying either. “So there’s a trail of quivering girls with broken hearts left in your tracks,” she adds.

 

A burst of laughter escapes his lungs followed by her light giggle. “Hardly.” When the laughter ends it’s like his mind finally tunes back in and he really notices the way Tessa is staring at him in barely concealed interest. _Oh_. “You wanna sit on my face.”

 

Her eyes widen comically. “No...I—”

 

“Yeah, you do.” He smiles, unable to resist nestling closer and pressing a kiss to her warm cheek. “You just sucked me off, Tess. Don’t play coy now.”

 

He watches as her eyes scan his face, getting caught as their gazes lock before she breaks free to stare down at his mouth. Scott lets his tongue slip across his lips, his eyebrows automatically lifting in a way he knows is not subtle in the slightest. “Scott…” she murmurs, a quiet but severe hunger radiating from her.

 

In a swift movement, he reaches for Tessa’s hips, hoisting her up and over him and urging her higher. She’s suspended in the air above him, knees digging into the mattress either side of his body. “Hold onto the headboard,” are the last words that escape him before Scott eases her down over his face.

 

Scott tilts her forwards, letting his mouth and nose simply run across her folds, and even though her thighs are bracketing his ears he can still hear the sigh she releases as the tension recedes in her whole body. With a smirk, Scott can’t resist nudging his nose against her clit for a moment and he maybe imagines a gasp as Tessa’s abdomen tenses and she folds to grip the headboard. He lets his gaze flick up and in the low light can just about make out the tension in her arms and the strong grip that is surely turning her knuckles even paler than they usually are.

 

When he slides his tongue into her cunt and feels the automatic relaxing and then tightening of her muscles, Tessa’s thighs begin to quiver and she falls down on him a little harder. Feeling her body respond to him like this is more rewarding than it’s ever been before. Scott moves one of his hands down to support her left thigh, fingertips and trimmed nails digging into the soft flesh. It changes Tessa’s angle slightly and she begins thrusting down against him minutely. Scott tries not to grin at her obvious enjoyment and breathy whimpers and focuses on the task at hand, tongue flicking against her thoroughly.

 

He’s overcome by the scent and taste of her arousal and the way her increasing wetness cascades across his tongue, chin, face. Lust curls around his organs and sinks into his groin, simmering below the surface. It’s not enough to get hard again, but it’s a quiet pleasure all the same. Feeling Tessa lose the control that she’s so carefully crafted and maintained over the years makes him light-headed, or maybe that’s just the lack of oxygen able to reach his lungs. It could be both. But nothing is singularly more important than taking Tessa to new heights and giving her all that he can.

 

Scott slides his hands around to hold onto her ass, encouraging her to move against him more freely and use him as much as she needs. The noises falling from her mouth get higher and more broken and one of her hands leaves the headboard to tangle in his hair. She gasps, tugs and then she’s coming around his tongue as beautifully as she twirls around him in their free dance training. Even when she’s reduced to the most carnal, basic pleasure there’s an elegance and a raw passion to her that’s incomparable and unbeatable.

 

She flops beside him, a sheen of sweat along her upper chest and a flush across her cheeks. “You’re ruining sex for me," she gasps, wagging a finger at him in an accusatory manner.

 

His fingers dig into her waist, tickling in retaliation. “I’m what?”

 

Tessa squeals and slaps his hands away. He only stops because they’re already so out of breath. “Not like that. I mean…” She shakes her head. “What if it’s not this good with anyone else?”

 

He grins, reaching over for the tissues on her nightstand to wipe his face.

 

Tessa’s eyes narrow, her face pinched. “Stop looking like that. I’m serious.”

 

Scott taps her on the nose. “When did you meet him?”

 

“Scott.” She rolls her eyes in exasperation.

 

“Not in that way. Just… you’re my friend. And something happened in your life that I don’t know about. I want to know and I want to help.”

 

“I think you’ve helped enough,” she mutters but he can see her preparing to open up anyway. “He came to the rink to meet up with someone a couple of weeks ago and we crossed paths. Got to talking. He asked me out for coffee the next day.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I got a message asking if I wanted to come over on Saturday...so I did.”

 

Scott does the mental math, remembers how hard Marina and Igor had gone in on Tessa on that Friday and how all he’d done was rub her arm and back in an attempt to comfort her. It was taking everything in him to be more distant while every inch of his body was screaming to get closer. Igor had blasted her for the way she was executing a step, Marina then snapped at her for the way she was holding herself during a lift, and to top it all off they’d gotten out of sync during one of the run-throughs and Tessa had stumbled. Scott had caught her, but she’d still been on the receiving end of more of Marina’s criticism. He sighs.

 

“It doesn’t always have to be...like it is with us. But you should always be treated _well_. Please don’t accept less than you’re worth, T.”

 

Her eyes flash, looking him up and down seriously. “What am I worth?”

 

“Everything.” He hopes she can feel how much he means it, because he believes it so completely. Scott knows he’ll never be good enough for her in all of the ways she deserves. The sex he can do and the partnership he can do, it's anything beyond that he feels doomed to fail at. “Just because you were ready to do it with me doesn’t mean you have to be ready to do it with everyone. And I told you last time, the offer is on the table.”

 

“When it was over— I just—”

 

His heart pangs. “T.”

 

“I wanted to feel like I felt with you— how _you_ made me feel.”

 

“For the record, we’re in the same boat.” And his vision of them in the little rowing boat becomes clear in his mind again, the darkness fading away like a cloud passing over and letting the light back in. He doesn’t know where they’re headed, but it doesn’t seem as scary as it used to be.

 

“Yeah?” She smiles so brightly he wishes he had a camera to preserve it, but a mental picture will have to do.

 

Sadly, the moments he wants to last are often far too short. “I need to take a shower,” she sighs, untangling herself from him and padding over to her wardrobe, grabbing a robe to slip around her wonderfully bare body tinged with small marks and red splotches that he wishes wouldn’t fade. He’s transported back to 2004 and the pure euphoria they both experienced after their Russian Medley free dance, he wanted to hold onto the feeling for as long as he could, and the same can be said about these moments he shares with Tessa. He figures it’s only a matter of time before she stops indulging him. She’s already becoming more sure, more confident, finding other men who’ll be upfront about their interest. The only thing he has over them so far is the ability to get her off, more than once.

 

“You can join me, you know,” she calls joyfully over the sound of the running water in the bathroom. He shakes himself out of his thoughts with a laugh, pulling his boxers up for the sake of decency. Scott steps out into the hallway just as there’s a soft knock on her front door. He knows it’s stupid. There’s a ridiculous impulsivity to his actions that Tessa would kill him for if she knew he was doing it, but he just can’t resist strolling over and opening the door, Abercrombie there in all his douchey glory.

 

“Er, hi?” he says unsurely as if he doesn’t know if he got the right apartment.

 

“Can I help you?” Scott asks, trying not to let his smugness shine through too much. His adrenaline starts going crazy, testosterone flooding his body.

 

“I’m Carter.” ‘ _Carter’, really bro?_  “I’m looking for Tessa. She said she wasn’t feeling well and I thought I’d check in…” he looks puzzled, bravado faltering as he takes in Scott’s state of undress and tries to look past him. Scott clings to the door, knowing if he opens it further then her disappointing lay will see his pile of clothes and the used condom he failed to throw away in his post-orgasmic haze lying in the hallway.

 

“Yeah, I’m her skating partner, Scott,” he introduces, putting his hand out to shake. Even the guy’s handshake is weak and Scott barely succeeds in holding back his eye roll. “I brought her home.”

 

“Scott!” Tessa calls from the bathroom, he turns to look back in the direction of her voice, his heart picking up speed. When his gaze returns to Carter, the other guy’s expression is pinched and speculative.

 

“She threw up. On herself and me, hence the—” Scott gestures to his lack of clothing and then points his thumb in the direction of the bathroom. “Look, she doesn’t want anyone to see her like this. But I’ll tell her you stopped by, okay?” He fake smiles through the lie, knowing he’s never going to mention this to her if he wants to keep his dick attached to his body.

 

Can’t-make-her-come-Carter looks placated and nods before leaving, Scott trying with all his might not to slam the door happily in his face. He rushes back to the bathroom, discarding his underwear before stumbling into the shower, the spray warm and his best friend very wet and gloriously naked.

 

“Took you long enough,” she chastises, as he wraps his arms around her and moves fully into the stream of water.

 

Scott hums into her neck, giving a hot kiss to her slippery skin. “I may have fallen asleep for a few minutes,” he lies.

 

They don’t fool around in the shower, instead using the opportunity to genuinely get themselves cleaned up of the mess they made of each other. But it’s oddly comfortable in a way he wouldn’t have expected.

 

When he slides back into his car, mouth still tingling from the tender-turned-bruising goodybe kiss they indulged in before he left, the light illuminates the vehicle for a quick moment before he closes the door. His eyes catch on something hanging from the mirror. Scott’s fingers unhook the material and he squints at it before laughing far too loud for what is supposed to be a discreet getaway from her place in the middle of the night. Her underwear. Of course.

 

Scott turns the radio on as he drives away, the opening notes of Santana’s ‘Black Magic Woman’ filling the space and making his satisfied grin even wider.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! If you feel so inclined, please leave me a comment or pop over to virtuemoirxx on Tumblr and leave a message in my inbox instead if you want! It really helps me know what people like and influences and inspires me going forward. 
> 
> I did follow through and answer the mystery of what Scott does haha. And I hope the title in relation to Scott in this story makes at least one person laugh. Also a thank you to whoever my anon was who suggested the name 'Carter' ;)
> 
> If all goes to plan...we're heading into angsty territory next time.


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